CSK Architects & Oliver Wilton (UCL) - Cork House

Project Details

Project - Cork House

Sector - Residential

Technology - Timber

Company - CSK Architects & Oliver Wilton (UCL)

Project Overview

Cork House is the first of its kind, with monolithic walls and corbelled roof pyramids made almost entirely from prefabricated blocks of load-bearing cork, in combination with structural timber elements. Its distinctive structural form and atmospheric spaces are the result of a whole life approach to environmental sustainability - an overarching 'form follows lifecycle' methodology that binds the architectural to the ecological.

At the core of this lifecycle approach is an attempt to radically simplify construction, to create a building envelope using a prefabricated kit of plant-based components, easily assembled by hand without mortar or glue like an oversized organic Lego system. With the whole construction process also designed for easy disassembly, all 1,268 pure cork blocks will be available at end-of-building-life for re-use, recycling or return to the biosphere. This highly innovative form of construction is carbon negative at completion, with exceptionally low whole life carbon of 618kgCO2e/m2 (BS EN 15978).

The resultant architecture is new and yet familiar - a progressive reimagining of the simple construction principles of ancient stone structures, realized using contemporary digital design and fabrication workflows.

Find further information on CSK Architects on their website: www.cskarchitects.co.uk